FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT--It's Time to Change

Tonight I did two things: 1. I visited a ward New Beginnings night (I am in the Stake YW Presidency) and 2. I watched The Biggest Loser.

At the New Beginnings meeting (which was lovely), I noticed three things that upset me. First, my tailbone hurt immensely, second, my posterior end no longer fits comfortably in the standard Relief Society room chairs, and third, because of the pain of my tailbone and the pain of the metal bars of the chair, I had a very hard time paying attention to the meeting. (Mom, please forgive me for the personal and self-degrading nature of this post).

As I watched The Biggest Loser, I noticed a few things as well. I noticed that I cannot sit on the couch comfortably because my tummy feels squished. I cannot sit on the floor comfortably either because I have to lean to one side or the other to avoid putting pressure on my sore tailbone. As I lean to the side, my hips start aching after several minutes. While, watching the show, however, I did NOT have a hard time paying attention. I paid attention to the way the contestants stood and walked and sat. They, too, seemed uncomfortable. They were in physical pain as well. Though most of them outweigh me, I found myself in the same boat. And like them, I want to bail ship!

I love Biggest Loser, not necessarily for the diet and exercise programs exhibited, but for the chance I get to see someone's journey. I love watching the small breakthrough moments, the individual stories and the AHA! moments of each contestant. Today, my not being able to concentrate in the New Beginnings meeting was an AHA! moment. How on earth, can I dedicate myself to serving the Lord in this, and other callings, including motherhood, if I can't even concentrate? How can I give life my best effort if I am uncomfortable and not feeling well? I need to lose this weight. That's all there is to it. I need to start now. I need to be deliberate and to set forth with all the determination I possess. And I need the Lord to help me and guide me allong the way. As Sheri Dew said: "He knows the way because He is the way."

So (now here's the part I'm proud of), following the episode, I calmly went into my room, got my running shoes on, and went downstairs and immediately got to work. I did the elliptical machine for a mile and did some cool down walking. I felt much stronger than I expected I would, and felt that I could have even gone further but I do have a bad cough right now and didn't want to be up all night, so I quit.

Here's the plan: I'm going to keep doing this each night, excluding Sundays. It'll be a little experiment: Can I stick with it? Can I get better at it? Can I see results from it? In addition to exercising, I'm going to return to a specific prompting I received a few weeks ago, to stop eating after 8:30 pm each night. (This is the time I feel most tempted to binge). I'll probably set additional goals down the line, but for now, I'm going to focus on these small steps. In essence, I'll be experimenting, just like Alma taught us to do. I'm having thoughts that these are good things I can do to lose weight, and I'm planting those thoughts, turning them into actions. We'll see if they grow from seeds of thought into plants of results.

I'll keep you posted!